#it would seem

[qulizalfos]

my thoughts on the poster:

we keep winning and never ever lose

[maybe-i-will-animals]

Red Toad - Schismaderma carens Soutpansberg Conservancy © pietersen_darren CC-BY-NC some rights reserved source

[beardedmrbean]

AI data centers projected to strain US energy and water resources by 2030

As the everyday use of AI has exploded in recent years, so have the energy demands of the computing infrastructure that supports it. But the

As the everyday use of AI has exploded in recent years, so have the energy demands of the computing infrastructure that supports it. But the environmental toll of these large data centers, which suck up gigawatts of power and require vast amounts of water for cooling, has been too diffuse and difficult to quantify.

Now, Cornell researchers have used advanced data analytics—and, naturally, some AI, too—to create a state-by-state look at that environmental impact.

The team found that, by 2030, the current rate of AI growth would annually put 24 to 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the emissions equivalent of adding 5 to 10 million cars to U.S. roadways. It would also drain 731 to 1,125 million cubic meters of water per year—equal to the annual household water usage of 6 to 10 million Americans. The cumulative effect would put the AI industry's net‑zero emissions targets out of reach.

On the upside, the study also outlines an actionable roadmap that would use smart siting, faster grid decarbonization and operational efficiency to cut these impacts by approximately 73% (carbon dioxide) and 86% (water) compared with worst‑case scenarios.

The findings were published in Nature Sustainability. The first author is doctoral student Tianqi Xiao in the Process‑Energy‑Environmental Systems Engineering (PEESE) lab.

"Artificial intelligence is changing every sector of society, but its rapid growth comes with a real footprint in energy, water and carbon," said Fengqi You, the Roxanne E. and Michael J. Zak Professor of Energy Systems Engineering at Cornell Engineering, who led the project.

"Our study is built to answer a simple question: Given the magnitude of the AI computing boom, what environmental trajectory will it take? And more importantly, what choices steer it toward sustainability?"

In order to quantify the environmental footprint of the nation's AI computing infrastructure, the team began three years ago to compile "multiple dimensions" of financial, marketing and manufacturing data to understand how the industry is expanding, combined with location‑specific data on power systems and resource consumption, and how they connect with changes in climate.

"There's a lot of data, and that's a huge effort. Sustainability information, like energy, water, climate, tend to be open and public. But industrial data is hard, because not every company is reporting everything," You said. "And of course, eventually, we still need to be looking at multiple scenarios. There's no way that one size fits all. Every region is different for regulations. We used AI to fill some of the data gaps as well."

But projecting the impacts wasn't enough. The researchers also wanted to provide data‑driven guidance for sustainable growth of AI infrastructure.

"There isn't a silver bullet," You said. "Siting, grid decarbonization and efficient operations work together—that's how you get reductions on the order of roughly 73% for carbon and 86% for water."

By far, one of the most important factors: Location, location, location.

Many current data clusters are being constructed in water‑scarce regions, such as Nevada and Arizona. And in some hubs, for example northern Virginia, rapid clustering can strain local infrastructure and water resources.

Locating facilities in regions with lower water stress and improving cooling efficiency could slash water demands by about 52%, and when combined with grid and operational best practices, total water reductions could reach 86%, the study found. The Midwest and "windbelt" states—particularly Texas, Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota—would deliver the best combined carbon‑and‑water profile.

"New York state remains a low‑carbon, climate‑friendly option thanks to its clean electricity mix of nuclear, hydropower and growing renewables," You said, "although prioritizing water‑efficient cooling and additional clean power is key."

If decarbonization does not catch up with the computing demand, emissions could rise roughly 20%.

"Even if each kilowatt‑hour gets cleaner, total emissions can rise if AI demand grows faster than the grid decarbonizes," You said. "The solution is to accelerate the clean‑energy transition in the same places where AI computing is expanding."

However, decarbonizing the grid can only do so much. Even in the ambitious high‑renewables scenario, by 2030 carbon dioxide would drop roughly 15% compared to the baseline, and approximately 11 million tons of residual emissions would remain, requiring roughly 28 gigawatts of wind or 43 gigawatts of solar capacity to reach net‑zero.

The researchers determined that deploying an array of energy‑ and water‑efficient technologies, such as advanced liquid cooling and improved server utilization, could potentially remove another 7% of carbon dioxide and lower water use by 29%, for a total water reduction of 32% when combined.

As companies such as OpenAI and Google funnel more and more money into rapidly building AI data centers to keep up with demand, this is a pivotal moment for coordinated planning between industry, utilities and regulators to avoid local water scarcity and higher grid emissions, according to You.

"This is the build‑out moment," he said. "The AI infrastructure choices we make this decade will decide whether AI accelerates climate progress or becomes a new environmental burden."

Co‑authors include researchers from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden; Concordia University in Montreal, Canada; and RFF‑CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment in Milan, Italy.

More information: Tianqi Xiao et al, Environmental impact and net-zero pathways for sustainable artificial intelligence servers in the USA, Nature Sustainability (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-025-01681-y

Provided by Cornell University

[blushweddinggowns]

Steve was trying his damndest to not cry again, but Eddie was making that damn near impossible. Not when he insisted on slow dancing to their damn wedding song in the middle of their living room- the masochist. 

It was sickeningly romantic, and Steve wouldn’t have it any other way. 

They were married. They were actually married. He had always been a sucker for shit like this. Always fantasizing about the day he would fall in love and live happily ever after. 

He just never expected it to actually become his reality.

Maybe the marriage wasn’t “real” but Steve didn’t give a fuck. It was real in all the ways that mattered, and Steve was more than ready to be the first one to concede that a ceremony had been a great fucking idea. He was so grateful to have such weird control freaks in his life, especially the girls. It was without a doubt going down as one of the best days of his life, amazing enough for Steve to never want it to end.

He was so fucking happy, he didn’t even know what to do with himself. So he just clung onto Eddie tighter, burying his face into Eddie’s shoulder as he let the happy tears fall. 

“Y’know,” Eddie murmured into his hair, “I did write vows. And if you weren't so stupidly gorgeous I would have been able to say them.”

Steve laughed, muffled against the fabric of his shirt, “Oh yeah?”

“Mmhm,” Eddie hummed, leaning down to press a light kiss to Steve’s temple, “Made them perfect and everything.”

How was he supposed to resist that? Steve pulled back to smile at him, head cocked, “Well let’s hear them then.”

Eddie straightened a little, trying and failing to put on a serious face. It didn’t really work with the dopey smile, but he got points for trying, “Steve Harring- No, sorry it’s Steve Munson now isn’t it?”

Steve grinned, “Damn right it is.”

Eddie laughed, leaning in to kiss his nose before continuing, “I vow to always love you the way you deserve to be loved. I’ll never let you doubt it. Because you’re perfect. Maybe not as a human being, but as my soulmate? There’s no one better. I’ll always be there for you, in any way that looks like. If that’s listening to Queen or ABBA albums on loop, then so be it. No price is too high when it comes to you.”

“I’ll be holding you to that,” Steve softly laughed, “Just so you know.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,”Eddie said, squeezing him a little tighter. He brought a hand to Steve’s face, tilting his chin up to look him straight in the eye, “And most of all, I promise that as long as I breathe, you’ll never feel alone again.”

Steve could feel the tears building up, a pleasant heavy feeling in his chest. And then Eddie was kissing him again, hard and deep enough for Steve to almost forget about his own vows. 

“Wait, wait!” Steve wetly laughed, barely managing to hold Eddie back with a hand to the chest, “It’s my turn now.”

But Eddie wasn’t waiting. He was too busy hefting Steve up into his arms, bridal style, all while smiling like an idiot, “We can talk and walk.”

And just like that, he was kissing him again. Walking blindly to their bedroom. Steve laughed into it, especially when Eddie kept knocking shit over as he went, “You’re so dumb. I love how dumb you are.”

Eddie gently tossed Steve onto the bed, crawling over him with a grin. He was already unbuttoning his shirt, jokingly chastising him, “Princess, if these are your vows then I think I win at the romance here. By a landslide.”

Steve rolled his eyes before wrapping his legs around Eddie's waist. He batted his hands away, squeezing him with his thighs just hard enough to get some leverage to flip them over. He grabbed Eddie’s hands in his, pinning them down right above his head. He smirked over him, completely eating up the lovestruck look on Eddie’s face. 

His lips were parted, the smallest sliver of pink tongue peeking out as he blinked up at Steve with wide eyes,“It’s so hot when you do that.”

“Stop being horny and listen!” Steve laughed, “I vow to give you inside of me. It’s all yours, for as long as you want it.”

Eddie adjusted their hands, moving to lace their fingers together while still letting Steve hold him down, “Forever then.”

“That’s right,” Steve agreed, giving his hands a little squeeze, “I will never love anyone like I love you. No one else compares. You are everything to me. I love the way you take care of me, I love the way you let me take care of you. I love it when you’re loud, when you’re so happy you don’t know how to shut up. I love it when you’re so nervous or excited you can’t sit still, and I’m the only one who can calm you down. There isn’t a thing about you that I don’t adore.”

Now Steve really had his attention. Eddie stared up at him, his eyes getting wetter by the second, but Steve wasn’t done yet, “I never thought that I would find someone who could make me feel like this. I didn’t even know people could feel like this, but here we are. And sometimes it’s scary, how much I love you. How I’d do anything for you. But there’s no one else I’d trust to have that power over me. No one else could even come close. And I am so fucking happy that I met you, and so, so ready to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you Eddie, forever and always.”

Eddie blinked a few tears down his face, surging up fast enough to make Steve squeak. He smashed their mouths together, his arms shaking as he wrapped them around Steve’s back.

“You win,” Eddie mumbled against his mouth, the tears still falling, “Best vows ever, hands down.”

Eddie didn’t give him a chance to answer, too busy trying to shove his tongue down Steve’s throat. But he didn’t mind, he just smiled into it. He was right anyway.

Steve really had won, hadn’t he?

~

From the last chapter of this fic

[13eyond13]

I have forgiven the Death Note characters for almost everything by now, but here is a list of things I still have NOT forgiven them for:

Light for calling himself "Lord Kira" when L first challenged him on TV

Light for thinking "Go meet your maker, lady!!" whenever he's trying to kill Naomi

Raye for being like "Why not use that brain of yours for more HOMEMAKER things" whenever Naomi tried to help him with the investigation

L for sprinkling crack on Misa's manager and then throwing her in prison

L for being like "It would be stupid af to lock up a suspect whenever they ask me to" the first time Light suggests it and then being like "Sure, why not" the second time he suggests it

L for the weirdo contraption and outfit he confines Misa in

Rem for suddenly deciding Light's a pretty cool guy, actually

Rem for both being like "No homo tho" to Misa and then also dying for straight rights

Light for making Aiber die slowly of cancer

Light for going "I need to tickle her just right" when thinking about how to manipulate Kiyomi

Matsuda for thinking it was epic that Light was cheating on Misa

Misa for throwing the board game at Mogi whenever she lost

Misa for making fun of Aizawa's nice haircut

Mello for killing like 90% of the SPK and Near for being like, but that's OK though when the SPK was mad about it

Mello for changing his Willy Wonka haircut

Near for never changing his pyjamas (that was L's thing, at least get some different patterns on the go)

Light for saying he wants to "top" the world during his Kira speech

[camillahect]

i see all of you liking that les mis post

[ghostcreaturetypething]

“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”

“Awesome.”

Nerd Dean confirmed

[grbambi63]

[via]